1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an improvement in a riding mower having a mower unit disposed forwardly of propelling wheels.
2. Description of the Related Art
A riding mower of this type is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,809,796, for example. This known mower includes a pair of right and left rear drive wheels (i.e. propelling wheels), a pair of right and left driven dirigible front wheels, and a mower unit disposed between the rear wheels and front wheels. Each of the right and left rear wheels has an HST, and the front wheels are steered by a speed difference between the right and left rear wheels. The mower can make an in situ turn by driving the right and left rear wheels in opposite directions. Thus, the mower has excellent small turn performance.
According to the prior art noted above, an engine is disposed substantially right over the rear wheels. A driver""s seat is disposed between the front wheels and rear wheels and forwardly of the engine. This construction has an advantage of allowing main components of the mower to be arranged en bloc between the front wheels and rear wheels. However, since the driver""s seat is disposed forwardly of and relatively far from the rear wheels, the driver tends to be swung around when the mower makes a very small turn such as an in situ turn. There is room for improvement in this respect.
The object of this invention is to provide a riding mower which overcomes the disadvantage noted above.
The above object is fulfilled, according to this invention, by a riding mower comprising a pair of right and left propelling wheels, and an engine for driving the propelling wheels. The engine is disposed rearwardly of axles of the propelling wheels. The mower further comprises a pair of right and left transmission cases corresponding to the propelling wheels and supporting the propelling wheels, respectively, a pair of right and left HSTs coupled to the transmission cases for outputting power thereto, respectively, and a center case for transmitting power from the engine to the pair of right and left HSTs. The center case is disposed forwardly of the axles of the propelling wheels. A mower unit is disposed forwardly of the propelling wheels.
With the above construction, the mower according to this invention has the engine disposed in a further rearward position than in the prior art, and the driver""s seat may be disposed close to the propelling wheels in the running direction. Consequently, the tendency of the driver being swung around in time of a sharp turn such as an in situ turn is reduced since the driver may be seated close to the turning axis.
Further, this riding mower has the center of gravity located near the propelling wheels to realize improved turning performance and spin turn performance.